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The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) has said that key steps must be taken to reduce costs in the Irish liability insurance market, including adjusting personal injury award levels to those of other jurisdictions.
The council also said steps should be taken to ensure consistency in award levels and reduce settlement costs if prices are to drop.
“To address the high cost of insurance, it is crucial to know what is driving costs up, and all signs point to personal injury settlement costs,” said council chair Dr. Frances Ruane.
“This includes the adjudication levels and the costs of resolving disputes.”
Releasing its latest newsletter on insurance costs, the NCC said it believes the time is right to re-examine the topic of high insurance costs.
He also said that the importance of competitive insurance costs for Irish businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, should be re-emphasized.
The council said insurance markets move through repeating cycles, with periods when coverage is available at reasonable prices and others when costs are high and coverage is limited.
He said the evidence currently available indicates that the employer and personal liability insurance markets here are in the so-called ‘hard market’ phase of high prices and low availability and have been since 2012.
The competitiveness watchdog said key actions are now needed, such as bringing personal injury award levels in line with other jurisdictions, ensuring award levels are consistent, and lowering settlement costs to lower costs and increase Disponibility.
The Judicial Council is currently considering a new draft of the guidelines that could recalibrate the current high level of awards given in court for minor bodily injury.
The NCC said it hopes that the adoption of the guidelines “will fully address this problem and insurance costs will gradually begin to fall.”
But he also stated that if this fails to reduce costs, then additional actions such as the Oireachtas that establish the levels of the award guidelines should be considered.
“Ultimately, for insurance costs to go down, personal injury settlement levels need to be in line with those of similar countries, and they need to be consistent,” said Dr. Ruane.
The council also said that steps are required to improve and reform the role of the Personal Injury Assessment Board and that competition in the market should be promoted.
This is not the first time the council has looked at the issue of insurance costs, because it said there is strong evidence that the high price of employers’ liability and liability insurance undermines the competitiveness of Irish businesses, especially companies. small and medium businesses.
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